Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) are used for a variety of missions such as reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition (RSTA). Typically a UAV executes a mission by flying from a starting point to one or more points of interest along a predefined route before arriving at the ending point. An operator may load the starting point, points of interest, and ending point into the UAV as a mission flight plan that the operator develops using a flight planner or ground control station with a graphical user interface. Once launched, the UAV can execute the mission flight plan autonomously or with varying degrees of remote operator guidance.
In general, the operator plans the flight path of the UAV based on his or her own experience and intuition. Prior ground control stations can display a UAV mission flight plan superimposed over a map or photographic image showing the location of points of interest. Prior ground control stations can also check the flight path for terrain conflicts and determine whether the flight path exceeds fuel and battery limits, high and low altitude limits, or other performance limits. However, existing ground control stations do not help operators plan low-altitude UAV missions to minimize the likelihood of detection and thus maximize the survivability of the UAV.
Many UAVs, especially fixed wing UAVs, operate at high altitudes where detection by observers is difficult. However, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAVs are often designed to operate close to the ground and may remain stationary in the air to provide a stable platform to observe a target, determine a precise target location, and/or designate a target. When performing RSTA missions, UAVs in general, and VTOL UAVs in particular, may become targets for destruction or disablement by hostile forces wishing to remain unseen.